


You're Everything I Never Had

by alderations



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Violence, Monsters, Other, Reunions, poorly disguised songfic in the year 2019? it's more likely than you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 10:06:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17526716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alderations/pseuds/alderations
Summary: Peter Nureyev could disappear like none other, but when hereappeared, well.(Set in a hypothetical future where Soul of the People ends well.)





	You're Everything I Never Had

A fifteen-foot barbed wire fence stood between Juno and his getaway car. Even without the spikes practically scratching the damn sky, he couldn’t climb that on his own. His arms would give out before he got halfway, unless he had something like—like the—just thinking of the THEIA wrenching his muscles from his control made his stomach heave. No, he’d rather stand here, useless, monsters breathing down his neck, than get himself back into that mess ever again. “And now you’re thinking about it,” he mumbled to himself. “Nice one, Steel.”

“What was that, love?”

Juno shook his head, as if that melodic voice were something he could brush away. “Nothing. You got a plasma cutter on you today, or are we gonna do this the old-fashioned way?”

“In my coat, yes.” Nureyev’s tone is so light that Juno would have turned around to check whether he was actually wearing said coat, if it weren’t for the uncomfortable sensation of lace tugging on his hair where they were pressed back-to-back. “Usually I would have slipped one into a garter somewhere, but I found it rather hard to conceal much of anything in my current state of dress.”

That particular factor hadn’t escaped Juno’s notice. Peter Nureyev could disappear like none other, but when he _re_ appeared, well. Blush-pink lace from neck to waist, synth-leather everywhere else, and sincerity dripping from his voice when he sat down across the table with a “good evening, detective” and ruined every step of Juno’s plan for the night.

It was a good plan, too, but he’d have time to mourn it later. If they didn’t die here.

He still didn’t know what Nureyev was doing here in the first place. Juno had been hired by Valles Vicky on claims that the host of this dinner party, one Jedediah Zhao, was brainwashing her employees and capitalizing on her business model, or whatever the hell she called it. Zhao made the rest of his money in the Cerberus Province, she claimed, but she hadn’t mentioned any proclivity for literal Cerberi, like the one currently drooling mere feet away from Nureyev’s face.

If all of that weren’t bad enough, Nureyev’s fingers closed around his own, tender enough to make Juno’s heart hiccup.

“Hey, Nureyev?”

Behind him, Juno could hear the dog’s left head snapping its massive jaws in their direction. It could’ve killed them already, but Juno figured it preferred its meat seasoned with fear or something like that. “Yes, Juno?”

“If we don’t make it out of this one, I just—”

“There’s no time for that.” Nureyev cut him off, squeezing his hand and pressing his back harder against Juno’s as the middle head barked like hell in his face. “Move when I give the word, alright?”

Juno finally turned his head, only to regret it moments later when he got a faceful of rancid dog breath. “What?”

“Trust me.”

He didn’t get the chance to say _yes, of course, every time,_ because Nureyev shouted something that probably wasn’t a real word and then took off running along the fence, his hand still tangled with Juno’s. The dog gave chase, its paws hitting the ground hard enough to make everything tremble—it was already on top of them, but one of those mouths could snap Peter’s head clean off at any moment, it could—

The dog took a flying leap, and a dozen things happened too fast for Juno to keep up. Nureyev tripped and fell, which meant that Juno hit the ground hard a moment later, and the three-headed dog barrelled over them and straight into a corner in the fence. There was a sound like a million angry wasps, not that Juno could hear much over the pain in—somewhere—and then Nureyev was on his feet again, dragging him up and away, over a mountain of something soft and smelly and slippery, and if only he still had depth perception, maybe he wouldn’t be so willing to make that jump, and then… Rita.

They had fallen into the car. How Nureyev pulled that off, he’d never know, but then again, this seemed to happen a lot. “How’s it goin’, boss?”

“It—I—Nureyev, what did you _do?”_

Nureyev took a deep breath, and through that outrageous bodysuit, Juno could see every muscle in his chest move. “The fence was electrified,” he explained. “There’s no way it could keep that dog contained otherwise. I tried to trick it into shocking itself without doing any damage to us, but it looks like you, ah, didn’t make it out in one entire piece.”

Moments before, the adrenaline had kept everything at bay, outside of the feeling that something was desperately wrong, but then Nureyev’s hand brushed his side, and the pain coalesced under his skin like it had been there all along. _“Fuck,”_ he hissed, flinching away from Nureyev’s gentle touch. “Wait, so that was… we climbed the dog? You _shocked_ a _dog?_ ”

“It took out a good piece of the fence, yes. And it should make a full recovery.”

“And Rita—you just happened to be _right there?”_

His secretary-turned-getaway-driver made a sound halfway between a snort and a cackle. “Nah, I’d been patrollin’ the fence for ten minutes while you two played puppy chow out there. I had a feelin’ Mista Nureyev was gonna try that trick, I saw it once on this movie, y’know, the one with the—”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Juno took a gulp of air and poked at his very broken rib, until Nureyev pulled his hand away. “Thanks, Rita. You probably saved me a whole bunch of broken bones there.”

“I told you a nice big sunroof would be a good investment, Mista Steel!”

It didn’t take long to get to the hospital, though Juno insisted there was no need; he’d survived plenty of broken ribs on his own, thank you very much, but Nureyev was the doting type, and it was hard to say no to him when he was wearing, well… that. Juno could feel the nurses gawking at his eyepatch, as if such a thing were really unusual here, and to his surprise, he was glad to have a hand to hold as they cleaned him up in the emergency room. Nano-antiseptic always stung like a bitch. Then they were whisked back out again, since there were always more serious injuries to be dealt with in Hyperion City. Rita, wonderful as ever, negotiated costs with the hospital secretary, and then dropped Juno outside his apartment with an armful of thief and stern instructions to “take care of him, Mista Nureyev.”

The car took off, and the city lapsed into silence around them. Steel and Nureyev. And also a raccoon washing its pincers in a grimy puddle behind the apartment building, but Juno chose to ignore that.

Juno said nothing as they made their way up the stairs, Nureyev at his elbow and keys in his hand. He had no idea how to handle this situation. Last time he’d seen Nureyev had been—well, they’d been in a bed, and Juno could leave it at that. The mayoral election, the undying trauma of the THEIA in all its forms, Buddy Aurinko and Brown Jacket and the lingering ghost of Sarah Steel, all spanned the year since they’d last touched, and how could Juno explain everything in so many words? Surely, Nureyev had stories of his own, at least after Juno apologized. The words were already forming in his mouth when he opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside, only to realize that Nureyev was lingering behind him, unwilling to cross the threshold.

“What, did you run into a Neptunian vampire since I last saw you?” Juno remarked, hoping the joke would hide the tension in his voice.

Nureyev just blinked. “This is your home, Juno.”

He grunted. _Not particularly,_ he wanted to say, but not now.

“May I come in? I’d rather not intrude on your space after every other unexpected appearance I’ve made today.”

“Yeah,” Juno grunted. “Yeah, come in.” He closed the door behind Nureyev and watched the digital lock shimmer a soothing blue as it bolted. Nureyev slid his shoes off and set them down next to Juno’s dusty boots, and once again, Juno could hardly believe that he _ran_ in those things. On _grass._ It was a miracle that he still had ankles to speak of.

Before he could get much farther into scrutinizing Nureyev’s stilettos, the man stepped into his space, one hand barely brushing Juno’s shoulder. “Let’s go sit down, Juno. You need to rest. Doctor’s orders, yes?”

Juno grumbled a protest, but it was hard to resist the warmth of Nureyev’s arm guiding him to the couch and gently pushing him down to sit. As soon as he was sure that Juno wouldn’t leap back into action and dislodge any bone shards, Nureyev took off toward the kitchen, promising something about tea in a tone so sweet that Juno could hardly hear a word. Something was different without the heels, as if walking on human legs the way they were meant to be used rejuvenated Nureyev’s body. Juno watched him from across the counter as he swayed around the kitchen to some imaginary music, lace shimmering in the low light, glasses slipping so elegantly down his nose.

It was unbearable, the feeling rising in Juno’s chest, clamoring against his ribcage.

Within minutes, two cups of tea were steaming on the coffee table, and Nureyev was settling in on the far end of the couch with his legs folded like an elegant leather pretzel. His bright eyes fixed on Juno’s face, and Juno had to bite back a sudden sob. “So, Juno,” he began, “what did you need to tell me so desperately, back there in the… doghouse?”

“Good one,” huffed Juno. “I—well, I should start… I’m… I’m sorry, Nureyev.”

“Oh?”

Of course he’d play dumb. Juno fixed his eyes on the lace clinging to Nureyev’s throat, not that he’d admit that he was too afraid to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry for leaving. And I—I could make dozens of excuses, but that doesn’t… You deserved more.”

“And do you truly think I didn’t expect you to leave?”

Juno made a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan and shifted his legs to mirror Nureyev’s pose. “That doesn’t make it okay.”

“No. I was hurt, I’ll admit. But I kept an eye on you, and it seems you’ve been awfully busy without me.” The sparkle in his eyes betrayed more excitement than Juno felt, at least when he thought about the THEIA and Ramses and… everything. Everything the big, mean world had shoved in his face since he last saw Nureyev. “I mean, taking on a dictatorial hive mind AI and winning, without help from the likes of me? Impressive.”

“That was mostly Rita. Don’t underestimate her.”

Nureyev chuckled. “I would never.”

The apartment fell silent again, except for the alternating sounds of them each sipping their tea. Nureyev had selected something fragrant and gingery, the kind of thing that would make Juno sleepy if he wasn’t careful. “Still. I’m sorry for leaving you, and I’m sorry for leading you on when—you have no idea how much I wanted that adventure, Nureyev.”

“Oh, I do know.” Those fox’s teeth glinted in the low light. “The offer’s always on the table, Juno, but I’m willing to meet you halfway, as it were.”

Juno gulped down the last of his tea and summoned what courage he could find from his painfully sober brain. He’d always imagined being drunk when this happened, but, well, maybe he had changed if he could pull it off now. “I love you,” he said at last, forcing himself to meet Nureyev’s eyes. “I never said it in—out loud. I love you, Peter Nureyev, and I need you to know that.”

The miracle of Peter Nureyev’s face never ceased to amaze him. That handsome, calculating, foxy face, fit so perfectly for a criminal and a killer, softened with untold affection into something warmer, rounder, bright in ways Juno had never seen. “I love you too, Juno Steel,” he replied. “And I’m glad I got to hear it here and now, and not inside a monster-dog’s mouth.”

“Well, maybe you could hear it better. Y’know. Over here. On—on this side of the—yeah.” He cut himself short as Nureyev—Peter—set his mug down and moved down the couch with all the grace of… himself. Juno’s legs fell open without thinking, and Peter slid into his space, one hand smoothing the hair out of Juno’s eyes while the other propped him up so he wouldn’t crush any freshly-set ribs. “I love you,” Juno breathed, against Peter’s lips this time. “I love you,” into the crook of his neck, “I love you,” along the shell of his ear, “I love you, and I think you might have chosen this outfit just to destroy me, personally.”

Peter laughed into his mouth. “I can always take it off, if it bothers you so.”

“I never said that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Good lord I have fallen so, so in love with the Penumbra, and I couldn't keep my hands away from it for long. I've missed writing! Damn!!!!! Expect more of this, whether you like it or not, because I'm insatiable. I do hope that you enjoyed it though. Leave a comment if you like; I always love hearing what's good, what needs work, what minor canon details I inevitably missed, and also I love to make friends!!!
> 
> Thanks to my love [Ben](benbokenobi.tumblr.com) for beta'ing, and also moral support and a constant stream of snake pictures (we named our snildren Peter and Juno, come visit me on [tumblr](translillie.tumblr.com) or [twitter](twitter.com/alderations) for pics).
> 
> also thanks to Metric for just generally being my favorite band, and also giving me [bad ideas.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsM3_VjwphU) And my roommate for sitting through this song 5 or 6 times in a row as I tried to find the Vibe for this fic, and also took lyrics way too literally. It's a process.
> 
> OH ALSO I tried to find a visual representation of the outfit I was dreaming for Peter, but I couldn't find anything that was really spot-on. [Here](https://www.fashionnova.com/collections/bodysuits/products/love-me-more-bodysuit-mauve) [are](https://www.lulus.com/products/hush-hush-black-lace-bodysuit/507672.html) some examples of the color and style, respectively. And then add leather pants and stilettos. (I definitely take constructive criticism on my outfit design; my style is 80% "shit my parents buy me from Eddie Bauer" and 20% "boyfriend's clothes".)


End file.
